DHV headquarters invents its own water mist system to provide fire protection

by Shane Henson — September 26, 2011—Facilities personnel looking for an effective, innovative way to prevent the spread of fires in their buildings may want to take notes from DHV, a consultancy and engineering firm in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, whose engineers have developed their own unique water mist fire protection system to protect the renovated DHV headquarters. The system produces a dense mist in the area where the office floors meet the building’s atrium space. This screen of water mist acts as a barrier in the event of an outbreak of fire, has a cooling effect, and lessens smoke density.

The soon-to-be-installed system will be a world first, as the technique is currently not applied anywhere else in this configuration, claims the company. The water mist screen will replace the physical partitions that traditionally divide office buildings into multiple fire compartments. The system, which is intended for use in office buildings, was developed in-house by DHV. It is significantly cheaper than a sprinkler installation, requires less material, and is easier to install.

DHV subjected the water mist system to a series of fire tests in collaboration with Wolter & Dros consulting engineers; Unica Automatic Sprinkler; R2B Inspecties, an independent inspection firm providing fire safety and security inspection services; and Efectis. Efectis, the leading European network of fire engineering and testing institutes, constructed a partial model of an office floor for this purpose. A quantity of wood equivalent to the expected maximum fire load was then ignited in order to test the fire-retardant properties of the water mist system.

The tests demonstrated that the water mist has the same fire-retardant effect as physical fire partitions. After the spray heads are installed, a certificate of conformity will be issued to DHV indicating that the water mist system is equivalent to a fire partition.

Thanks to the water mist system, DHV will be able to retain the open look and feel of the head office. The building was originally constructed in the early seventies and is one of the first office buildings in the Netherlands without partitions between floors.